They were widely expected to launch the first smartphone based on the next generation Android operating system, dubbedÂ ”Ice Cream Sandwich”.

Google and Samsung made the following announcement earlier today:

Samsung and Google decide to postpone the new product announcement at CTIA Fall. We agree that it is just not the right time to announce a new product. New date and venue will be shortly announced.

Though they didn’t provide an official reason for the postponing the event, it was being speculated that the reason for postponing the new product announcement was out of respect for Apple’s co-founder and ex-CEO who passed away on Wednesday.

AllThingsD has just confirmed that the two companies canceled the big media event in response to Steve Jobs’ death. AllThingsD reports:

The decision to postpone things was made late last night at the top levels of both companies, sources said, with Jobsâ€™ death being the reason. There are no delays with the product itself, sources insisted.

It’s a classy move by the two companies and nice to see the humane side of the corporate world. We sincerely hope that the tech titans can figure out a way to settle their differences over the patent disputes.

Meanwhile, Apple didn’t delayed the launch of their next generation iPhone – iPhone 4S and started accepting pre-orders for their new iPhone earlier today for delivery on October 14th, which we’re sure wouldn’t have been easy for Apple employees, but that is exactly what Steve Jobs would have wanted.

After some intermittent issues, Apple’sÂ online storeÂ has returned with details on how to pre-order Apple’s newÂ iPhone 4SÂ for delivery on October 14th. It was first available for pre-order atÂ VerizonÂ andÂ Sprint’sÂ website.Â AT&T’sÂ websiteÂ continues to say iPhone 4S will be available for pre-order on October 7th.

Apple unveiled iPhone 4S at the Let’s talk iPhone event on Tuesday, whichÂ comes with aÂ number of new features and improvements, including Appleâ€™s faster dual-core A5 chip, 8-megapixel camera, Siri â€“ Appleâ€™s new revolutionary personal assistant feature, improved battery life, faster download speeds, support for both GSM and CDMA networks and more.

Pricing:

The 16GBÂ iPhone 4S is available for $199, 32GB for $299 and 64GB for $399. iPhone 4S is available in black and white colors.

Carriers:

For the first time in the US, users will have the option to choose from three carriers â€“ AT&T, Verizon and Sprint. If you’re confused which carrier to opt for, checkout our post on the best carrier for iPhone 4S.

Sprint’s website

Verizon’s website

AT&T’s website

Are you planning to pre-order Appleâ€™s new iPhone 4S? Let us know if you’ve managed to successfully place a pre-order.

Update 1:

It looks like Sprint’s is seeing unprecedented traffic as you get “This webpage cannot be displayed” when you click on the pre-order button.

Update 2:Â

Apple’sÂ online storeÂ has returned with details on how to pre-order Apple’s newÂ iPhone 4SÂ for delivery on October 14th. Update 3: A

Now that Siri has finally been integrated into the iPhone 4S, the standalone app Apple chose to keep alive even after Siri’s acquisition has been pulled off the App Store. Taking down the appÂ obviouslyÂ means thatÂ present iPhone owners won’t be able to experience the game changing AI technology behind the app.

If you still have the app on their homescreens, when you launch it you would be greeted by a message saying:

“Iâ€™ve been replaced! The new Siri is even smarter and better looking than me, and waiting for you on the iPhone 4S. Iâ€™ll be leaving for home Oct 15th. Until thenâ€¦how can I help you?”

The app, which was launched in early 2010 received a lot of love from the tech community including Robert Scoble, NYT BITS and of course us.

For one, itâ€™s pretty tough to up-sell current iPhone 4 owners to the iPhone 4S if one of the biggest features is already available (albeit to a limited extent) as a third-party app. Less nefariously, having a third-party app (especially one that hadnâ€™t been updated in around a year) available with the same name as a feature would be beyond confusing.

He notes that the app was pulled right after Apple finished demonstrating Siri on the iPhone 4S.

We all know that Apple’s roadmap is set for several years to come, and that has been confirmed today by Masayoshi Son, president of Japanese carrier Softbank.

The Softbank president told Reuters that Steve’s vision would be seen not just in the iPhone 4S, but in the next-generation iPhone as well. He didn’t say it directly of course, but indicated it through a statement which was originally in Japanese:

“the work which he [Jobs] did acting as the leader of an army will come out to the world after he died”

“even after he died, the work will come out to the world that he spearheaded “

(All translation tools on the web do a pretty bad job at translating the original article onÂ Reuters, so in case you understand Japanese and can help us with getting more information from the article, please do so in the comments.)

This broad statement most likely refers to the iPhone, because that is the only line of Apple products that carriers would have some clue about.

According to rumors and speculations, iPhone 4S will come with 1GB RAM, which was one of the reasons Siri – the intelligent personal assistant is not available for other iOS devices, including iPad 2, which is powered by the same A5 chip as iPhone 4S but comes with 512MB RAM.

However, folks at This is My Next have just reported that iPhone 4S may come with only 512MB RAM just like iPhone 4 and iPad 2. This small piece of information comes from Chair Entertainmentâ€™s creative director Donald Mustard who had been involved in the development of Infinity Blade 2 that was demoed at the event,Â apparently had this to say about iPhone 4S in an interview with Eurogamer:

Iâ€™m still shocked that, with the iPhone 4S, Iâ€™m literally running around with a 1080p video camera in my pocket, with an eight megapixel camera, 64GB of hard drive space and an A5 chip with 512MB of memory. This is a really powerful computer, right?

In order to be ready for the launch, Apple has sent out emails to developers of iOS Developer program to submit their apps that are compatible with iOS 5.

The Golden Master version means that it is the shipping version of the software that developers must use to submit theirÂ iOS appsÂ that are compatible with iOS 5.

Apple has sent the following email to developers:

The next generation of the worldâ€™s most advanced mobile operating system will soon be in the hands of hundreds of millions of iPhone, iPad and iPod touch customers. This major new release features more than 200 new features and an updated SDK with over 1,500 new APIs and developer tools.

Get your apps ready for the next generation of iOS.Â Install the GM seed of iOS 5 and build your apps with Xcode 4.2 GM seed. Test your existing apps for compatibility, review the iOS Data Storage Guidelines, and submit your new apps that take advantage of the exciting technologies in iOS 5 today.

As anonymous Samsung officials had suggested, Samsung has announced on its website that plans to get the iPhone 4S banned in France and Italy, for which it would file motions in courts of both countries. The motions filed are based on alleged infringement of two of Samsung’s patents related toÂ Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) standards for 3G mobile handsets.

The infringed technology is essential to the reliable functioning of telecom networks and devices and Samsung believes that Appleâ€™s violation as being too severe and that the iPhone 4S should be barred from sales.

Apple has continued to flagrantly violate our intellectual property rights and free ride on our technology. We believe it is now necessary to take legal action to protect our innovation.

Samsung plans to file preliminary injunctions in other countries after further review.

The last line, revealing the company’s intentions to sue Apple in other countries, might mean that their lawsuits in these two countries were rushed so as toÂ capitalizeÂ on the iPhone 4S launch and also to get it banned as soon as possible. The reason these two markets were chosen according to a Samsung spokes person speaking to WSJ were:

because they are “key markets” in Europe, citing also “the local legal system and processes.”

The patents in discussion are subject to FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) terms ofÂ licensing, and as Florian Mueller puts it, the question of a ban arises only if Apple refuses to pay the royalties associated with this patent:

This is what the FRAND issue comes down to: if those patents are essential, then there are two questions to be analyzed by a court: Does Apple have to pay? And if so, how much can Samsung ask for under a FRAND framework? But an injunction can only be justified if and when Apple refuses to pay a FRAND royalty that it owes in the binding opinion of a court of competent jurisdiction.

For what its worth, the iPhone 4S would be available for sale in France and Italy not on October 14th but the last week of October, giving Apple’s lawyers enough time to prepare a response.

Samsung’sÂ anonymous officials who spoke to The Korea TimesÂ in September, got their claim of “NFC being included on the iPhone” totally wrong. It might still be in the pipeline, but obviously hasn’t found a place on the iPhone 4S.

So do you think Samsung is being too optimistic about getting the iPhone 4S banned?

As anonymous Samsung officials had suggested, Samsung has announced on its website that plans to get the iPhone 4S banned in France and Italy, for which it would file motions in courts of both countries. The motions filed are based on alleged infringement of two of Samsung’s patents related toÂ Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) standards for 3G mobile handsets.

The infringed technology is essential to the reliable functioning of telecom networks and devices and Samsung believes that Appleâ€™s violation as being too severe and that the iPhone 4S should be barred from sales.

Apple has continued to flagrantly violate our intellectual property rights and free ride on our technology. We believe it is now necessary to take legal action to protect our innovation.

Samsung plans to file preliminary injunctions in other countries after further review.

The last line, revealing the company’s intentions to sue Apple in other countries, might mean that their lawsuits in these two countries were rushed so as toÂ capitalizeÂ on the iPhone 4S launch and also to get it banned as soon as possible. The reason these two markets were chosen according to a Samsung spokes person speaking to WSJ were:

because they are “key markets” in Europe, citing also “the local legal system and processes.”

The patents in discussion are subject to FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) terms ofÂ licensing, and as Florian Mueller puts it, the question of a ban arises only if Apple refuses to pay the royalties associated with this patent:

This is what the FRAND issue comes down to: if those patents are essential, then there are two questions to be analyzed by a court: Does Apple have to pay? And if so, how much can Samsung ask for under a FRAND framework? But an injunction can only be justified if and when Apple refuses to pay a FRAND royalty that it owes in the binding opinion of a court of competent jurisdiction.

For what its worth, the iPhone 4S would be available for sale in France and Italy not on October 14th but the last week of October, giving Apple’s lawyers enough time to prepare a response.

Samsung’sÂ anonymous officials who spoke to The Korea TimesÂ in September, got their claim of “NFC being included on the iPhone” totally wrong. It might still be in the pipeline, but obviously hasn’t found a place on the iPhone 4S.

So do you think Samsung is being too optimistic about getting the iPhone 4S banned?

Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.

Steve died peacefully today surrounded by his family.In his public life, Steve was known as a visionary; in his private life, he cherished his family. We are thankful to the many people who have shared their wishes and prayers during the last year of Steveâ€™s illness; a website will be provided for those who wish to offer tributes and memories.We are grateful for the support and kindness of those who share our feelings for Steve. We know many of you will mourn with us, and we ask that you respect our privacy during our time of grief.

Team,I have some very sad news to share with all of you. Steve passed away earlier today.Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.We are planning a celebration of Steveâ€™s extraordinary life for Apple employees that will take place soon. If you would like to share your thoughts, memories and condolences in the interim, you can simply email rememberingsteve@apple.com.No words can adequately express our sadness at Steveâ€™s death or our gratitude for the opportunity to work with him. We will honor his memory by dedicating ourselves to continuing the work he loved so much.TimÂ

Michelle and I are saddened to learn of the passing of Steve Jobs. Steve was among the greatest of American innovators â€“ brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it.

By building one of the planetâ€™s most successful companies from his garage, he exemplified the spirit of American ingenuity. By making computers personal and putting the internet in our pockets, he made the information revolution not only accessible, but intuitive and fun. And by turning his talents to storytelling, he has brought joy to millions of children and grownups alike. Steve was fond of saying that he lived every day like it was his last. Because he did, he transformed our lives, redefined entire industries, and achieved one of the rarest feats in human history: he changed the way each of us sees the world.

The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steveâ€™s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented. Michelle and I send our thoughts and prayers to Steveâ€™s wife Laurene, his family, and all those who loved him.

AllThingsD has confirmed that Sprint will indeed be offering unlimited data plans to iPhone 4S customers to compete with AT&T and Verizon who have moved to tiered data plans.

AllThingsD reports:

â€œWe will be offering the benefit of our unlimited plans that start at just $69.99,â€ said spokeswoman Michelle Leff Mermelstein. Sprintâ€™s $69.99 plan includes unlimited data and 450 voice minutes as well as unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling. Unlimited calling and data costs $99 a month.

When Verizon first started offering Apple’s iPhone 4 earlier in the year, it offered iPhone customers unlimited data plans, which was seen as one of the unique selling points of Verizon iPhone, but Verizon has since moved to the tiered data plans like AT&T.

It remains to be seen if Sprint will offer the unlimited data plans indefinitely or it will discontinue it in the future like AT&T and Verizon.

Sprint doesn’t seem to be too worried of handling the surge in data traffic from iPhone customers:

â€œWe have every confidence in the ability of our 3G network to handle the influx of devices we expect to get. It certainly hasnâ€™t been an issue to date.â€

However, it is strange that Sprint hasn’t splashed the introduction of Apple’s new iPhone 4S on it’s homepage, especially when it has gone all-in for the iPhone deal. AllThingsD reports that Sprint is very excited about finally getting iPhone 4S on its network and is currently busy making sure that the plans are in order, before making the big splash.